Esculent
by Alpaca desu
Summary: Almost all the workers in the Queen's castle were females. And recently, for an unclear reason, the male chef was beheaded. "Jack. Find me a new cook. I want a female cook." Was he trying to turn this castle into a harem? Jack prayed that the King will not order him to switch gender next. The Queen of Hearts X OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Are you Alice? © Ai Ninomiya and Ikumi Katagiri**

* * *

A country only needs one queen. If not, the people won't understand whose orders to follow. There's only one queen in Wonderland. So The Queen of Hearts' order is absolute.

No one could comprehend what exactly the chef did that made the king angry. Was it because of the red lobster that he prepared for His Majesty? Well, everyone in Wonderland knew that the king despise the red color of blood and anyone who shows him the color will receive punishment from him. But, lobster wasn't blood red and it's delicious.

So what order did the chef disobeyed?

The Knave of Hearts could care less. Knowing his king who was easily angered, this kind of thing was usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But now with the chef's head off, who will cook His Majesty's meals?

The king stared at the beheaded corpse and the red puddle of blood in front of his feet with eyes narrowed in disgust. Some of the blood had splattered on his handsome face too. The blood-coated scythe disappeared from his hand into thin air as his lips parted to call his faithful ace.

"Jack."

The silent ace turned to his king in acknowledgement upon hearing his name called in such a demanding manner.

"Find me a new cook. I want a female cook."

If the king wasn't an ill-tempered man, Jack would have face-palmed. Was he trying to turn this castle into a _harem_? And how will he be able to go find a chef if he was supposed to always stay by his side?

Jack was about to open his mouth to ask but he immediately remembered that he was forbidden to speak. He zipped his lips shut. Now he had no way but to figure out how.

The king's mauve eyes peered at the unmoving bodyguard by his side. He heaved a heavy sigh. "That means I'll come with you. Prepare the carriage and we'll leave once I clean the blood off me," elaborated him as if he understood Jack's confusion.

That answered Jack's question. He bowed in submission and left.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set down, marking the end of the day. They had entered numerous restaurants with good reputation known in Wonderland yet since the king had such high tastes, he hadn't even chosen a candidate. He stepped in a restaurant, the waitresses swooned, he ordered and flirted, the food came and he left without touching it. The cycle had been repeated over and over till now. It almost seemed like the king was not interested in finding a new cook but he was interested in the waitresses instead.

No, Jack certainly wasn't complaining nor was he tired from accompanying the king. He was the king's loyal ace after all.

"Welcome, Your Majesty!"

The chorus of greetings welcomed the king inside. He smiled his usual half-lidded smile and stepped in the small yet full restaurant. Jack followed after His Majesty and his jaw went slack by the slightest. The first thing he noticed, aside from how crowded the limited space was, was the waitresses. Unlike the king, Jack was not the perverted type. But he is still a man and he could not help but stare at the women dressed in animal costumes. Quiet exposing costumes, he might add. Then he immediately realized that those ears and tails might be real since this is Wonderland. Everything might be possible, except disobeying the queen's orders.

The cutest women approached the king the second he stepped in. They led him to a very clean table to the point where Jack could see the reflection of the neatly arranged flowers in the vase on the table.

Jack could tell that the king was very happy to be here.

A young girl with fluffy pink cat ears suddenly popped in between the women surrounding the king's table and handed him a small booklet.

"Here's the menu, Your Majesty!" chirped her with an adorable smile.

The king took the menu still with his smile that seemed permanent by now. He skimmed and flipped through the pages while Jack took a peek at the contents of the booklet. The ace did not know if the king was just looking through the dessert section or if the majority contents of the menu was dishes for tea time. Judging from the interior and the waitresses' uniforms, the place did seem like a tea house.

He glanced at the vintage analog clock hung at the wall across. It was nearly 6 pm and customers were still having their afternoon tea? It's almost dinner time for His Majesty. Jack silently wondered how the king who usually had regular meal intervals everyday was not hungry by now after skipping lunch and afternoon tea.

Jack's gaze was averted as the king snapped the menu shut and set it on the table. He placed his elbows on the table and propped his chin while his half-lidded eyes stared at the girl with pink ears who gave him the menu.

"It's too late for afternoon tea now. Can your cook make me dinner?" The king asked with a hint of challenging tone.

Now Jack knew that the king was actually hungry. His one visible eye moved to the waitresses who seemed a bit uncomfortable by the king's request. The word 'request' was not in the king's dictionary. It's more of an order than a request.

After darting her eyes around nervously for a few moments, the pink-eared young girl answered nervously with a shaky voice. "O-of c-course! I'll be back in a f-few with your order! Ex-excuse me."

With that, she scurried off towards the back. Jack stared after her with a bit of worry in his eyes. He can tell that the king was hungry and he hoped that his mood will not go bitter because of it. Another chef's head might roll on the floor if the king was angry. To make matters worse, anything small might make him mad in this moment and the chef probably knew nothing about the king's favorite and least favorite food. This was a tea house and they might not have the ingredients to make even the simplest course meal.

He hoped that the cute women surrounding them will somehow calm the king's rage. Jack really did not feel like cleaning up bloodied headless corpse.

A few minutes later, the same pink-eared waitress emerged from the kitchen with a tray of empty dish and silverwares. They rattled from the way the petite girl's hands shook out of anxiety. She daintily placed them in front of the king and scooted away almost instantly after it was set.

"Um, th-the chef's preparing your meal, Your Majesty! Please wait for a wh-while." She stuttered. Again, she scurried off to the kitchen again.

In contrast with the king who waited patiently, Jack was nearly as anxious as the waitress from before. All sorts of bad predicaments ran through his mind endlessly. He way the waitress' face twisted in nervousness did not help either.

The minutes of waiting were coated with a heavy tension and Jack was not exaggerating. The other waitresses did not seem as relaxed and overjoyed as before. He king began to drum his fingertips on the table, a gesture of boredom. His ever-present smile began to falter as the minute needle ticked by slowly.

One of the waitresses finally spoke up. "I'll go check out the kitchen. Excuse me, Your Majesty." She said it as quickly as she left.

The king did not bothered to reply and he continued tapping his fingers on the table.

A few seconds after the waitress was gone, the pink-eared waitress came out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming bowl and a forced smile. She tried her best not to shake as violently as before to not spill the contents of the bowl and carefully placed it in front of the king.

"Sorry for the wait, Your Majesty." She apologized as she set the bowl of soup on the table.

The king's pair of orbs lit up at the sight of the meal in front of him. The name of soup remained ambiguous as he could not tell but it looked and smelled appetizing. He picked up a spoon to scoop up a little of the soup to check if it tasted as good as it looked.

Beside him, Jack was getting more rigid as the spoon neared he king's parted lips. He cautiously watched the king and waited for his response.

To his and everyone's relief, the king smiled after the first spoonful and continued to drink the rest of the creamy liquid. From the corner of Jack's eyes, he could see the waitresses cracked a smile in relief.

Right after the king was finished with the soup, a waitress came with a tray of salad. She set them on the table and offered a smile before she bowed and left.

The king's dinner continued with no heads rolling on the ground, to Jack's and everyone's relief. After the main course and dessert, the king wiped the invisible traces of food from his lips with a napkin and leaned back at the chair with a content expression on his face.

"That was a bit better than I expected for a place that only serves cakes and teas. I'd like to have a word with the cook."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The pink-eared waitress went to the back to retrieve the chef. A minute later, a nervous-looking girl with disheveled dark brown hair and big round steamy specs emerged from the kitchen. She hesitantly approached the king's table, her gloved hands tugged at her worn out dull apron. Once she was in front of the king she bowed deeply and straightened up.

From up close, the king could see the tiny freckles that littered her slightly rosy cheeks. Truthfully, the king was disappointed that the chef was not as cute as the waitresses. But she's just a cook and she will work in the kitchen so the king will not be able to see her often anyway. And he was pretty tired from visiting multiple restaurants in a day therefore he did not want to continue his search.

"Congratulations. You're hired," stated the king with a smirk.

The girl reluctantly looked at the king through her thick glasses and her face showed clear confusion.

"Huh? Hired…for what?" asked her dumbly.

* * *

**Sorry it's short. This was just an opening chapter, sort of like a prologue, so next chapter will get longer. I promise!**

**As for the title... I just thought that difficult words are attractive. It isn't, is it? TTATT **

**And the OC is actually the girl at the end. **

**I just finished reading the 30+ chapters of this manga like, days ago and I'm completely in love with the plot and characters. So I can't resist writing this!**

**Hmm, I don't know if people will actually come here to read this fic since…I don't know… it seems that there are not a lot of people in this fandom. OTL**

**Reviews? No? That's fine… TTvTT**


	2. Chapter 2

**Are you Alice? © Ai Ninomiya and Ikumi Katagiri**

* * *

She had never imagined that a situation could get so uncomfortably awkward and frightening at the same time.

There was nothing wrong with the cushioned seat or the spacious room in the carriage, really. The occasional bumps on the road which made the vehicle jump and shook was not the problem too. It should feel very comfortable and exciting since this was her first time riding in such a fancy carriage actually.

If the king was not sitting across from her, staring at her figure in what she thought as disdain, that is.

It would be much better if she could just sit beside the king's aide in front of the carriage. She was just a commoner and she was unworthy to be so close to His Majesty, right? The knave was pretty cute too, she might add.

To be honest, even though she had not been blessed with a pretty face or an attractive personality, she had considered herself as a lucky girl to be able to live in Wonderland and earn a living by having her dream career. In her alternate life, she would not be able to lead a simple and fulfilling life like this. Not with her controlling parents who expected too much from her. She was not the type of person who dislikes many types of person or things. There was only one thing that she could not stand and that was being controlled. Hence, that was why she chose to escape from reality to Wonderland.

In Wonderland, she lived by herself. Nobody could tell her what to do and not to do and she did not need to please her parents or anybody else. She did not have to worry about her future because here, in Wonderland, everything was and will be wonderful.

Well, that was what she had always believed till she had been called out of her kitchen at her workplace by His Majesty. Seeing his face finally made her realize that there was still somebody way scarier and more demanding than her parents who can control her life.

It's a normal reflex reaction to be nervous when preparing a meal for a queen. Somebody with the title 'Queen' must be important after all so it was natural for her to cook an extra special meal. However, if she had known that the king had come to the tea house to employ a new cook for the castle, she would have not tried her best to cook an appetizingly pleasant meal.

She preferred being a cook for an eating house than being a cook for a castle despite the great difference in the amount of work and wage. One would rather work for the king when offered with a high pay and less work, but not her. Thanks to the attractive waitresses, even though the tea house was almost always full with customers that she barely got any time for breaks she was pleased by cooking for a lot of people because her life purpose here was to cook for people. The more people she made happy, the more satisfied she felt.

But now that she was chosen to serve the king she can only prepare only for him. She doubted if the king will be grateful for the food she will cook for him.

"What's your name?"

The girl snapped out of her train of thoughts as she heard the king's question. She dared herself to glance briefly at His Majesty and noted that his eyes were always half-lidded. Their eyes met and she found herself unable to look away. It was as if his gaze had a magnetic effect on her. She hoped that looking at the king in the eye was not considered rude. She thanked her unfashionable glasses for hiding the direction of her gaze.

"People called me 'Freckles'," answered her. She never minded being called with that name yet now she felt a tinge of pink appeared on her freckled cheeks. The name made her felt embarrassed now that she thought of how others in Wonderland had such cute names.

"Who named you that? That's very uncreative."

It was true that the name was rather direct and people just call her by the first thing she noticed on her face. She played no role in the White Rabbit's game so she was not given a name by him.

"Nobody in particular. One of my colleagues started to call me by that and the others followed."

"So you have no name?" A smirk made its way to the king's lips. It made her felt inferior and out of place all of a sudden.

"…No." Freckles felt uncomfortable by looking at the king's eyes and her gaze shifted to her lap.

The king's smirk grew by a tiny fraction and a mock sympathetic look appeared in his eyes. "I see… You poor thing…"

The corner of Freckle's lips twitched downwards for a split second at the king's words. She obviously disliked how the king referred to her as a 'poor thing' just because she had no name. What's wrong with having no name? She believed that he had no name either. A title is not the same as a name, right?

If this was not His Majesty in front of her, she would have interjected.

The king shifted his sitting position so that his legs were crossed at his knees. In the process, Freckles felt his leg accidentally nudged hers and she noticed how cramped the carriage really was. She felt claustrophobic all of a sudden and she averted her head to the window.

"I'll give you a better name," said the king, which made Freckles turn her head back to him.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," responded her reluctantly. She hoped the king will really give her a decent name.

The king continued to stare at her, with a serious look this time, as he pondered on what name to give her. Freckles involuntarily grew impatient as every second passed by. She felt so eager and excited that she did not realized she was gripping on the hem of her apron tightly. Even though she thought a name was not important, she was happy to receive one. It had been a long time since she had a proper name.

Freckles' grip tightened as she saw the king's mouth opened and her eyes looked up at him expectantly.

"Olive," stated the king with closed eyes and content smirk.

Her grip loosened considerably as the name was mentioned. She immediately looked down at the old olive colored dress she was wearing under her apron and sweat dropped. So the king named her after the color of her dress. The name was just as uncreative as 'Freckles'! Well, at least this time she got a girl's name.

"From now on, you are Olive, the cook at the Queen's Castle."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The girl, now known as Olive, turned her head back to the window and stared at the light reflection of her face. Olive tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and observed the brown tiny spots that dotted her cheeks irregularly.

She will miss the name 'Freckles' and her old kitchen.

* * *

"Hello, nice to meet you. I see, you're chosen as the new cook. What's your name, young lady?"

Olive blinked at the pretty, big-breasted woman clad in a revealing, long black dress who had her hand extended towards her, gesturing for her to shake it. She had a friendly close-eyed smile on. The freckled girl hesitantly took it with her free hand that was not holding her suitcase while she eyed the older woman suspiciously, checking if the smile was fake, and after moving her hand up and down a several times, she answered, "…Frec-, I mean, Olive."

She should get used to her new name.

"Oh, just Olive? So I'll call you Olive..?"

Olive nodded.

The smile on her lips broadened. "I'll accompany you for a tour around the castle. I know that the castle is huge so I'll just introduce you to the rooms that you should know."

Olive nodded wordlessly again.

The woman turned around and she began to walk forward into the castle. Olive followed closely behind as she tried her hardest not to dart her awe-filled eyes around the hallways, admiring the black and white checkered carpeted floor and the intricately carved pillars that supported the arched ceiling. She glanced outside through the rows of windows on the walls and saw a lawn of green neatly trimmed grass. That must be the Queen's Croquet Ground.

She nodded absent-mindedly as the woman showed her to various rooms. Olive knew she was going to get lost if she did not at least listen to the woman but she did not care. It's not like she will venture inside the castle. The only place need to know was the kitchen. It will be her work quarter after all. Oh, and her room too.

"And here's the kitchen," said the woman, opening the double doors with a push.

Olive immediately perked up at the mention of the word 'kitchen'. She peered in and she had to restrain herself from dropping her jaw in disbelief.

It was too big to be called a kitchen. She could have sworn that it was as big as the whole tea house she worked at. And it looked recently cleaned and organized. Everything in the room looked shiny to her, almost blinding her eyes compared to her old kitchen.

She stepped forward to inspect the beauty closer but then she stopped herself. She turned to look at the woman, asking for permission to which the woman replied with a nod of encouragement. Olive nodded back and continued, her feet stepping on the checkered tiles daintily, as if afraid of dirtying it with her worn shoes. Her eyes were filled with wonder behind her thick lenses as she studied the polished stoves, oven, cabinets, and counters.

To summarize, it was her dream kitchen.

"Do you like it?" asked the woman with a kind smile.

Olive whipped her head back to the woman and nodded furiously with glittering eyes. "Yes! It's beautiful!"

"I'm glad you liked it. You can familiarize with it tomorrow. Shall we go to your room now?"

"Ah, yes. Of course," answered her, reluctantly leaving the kitchen. She glanced at the kitchen for the last time for the day with longing eyes before she tailed the woman down the hallway, trying her best to memorize the every turns leading to her room.

The windows on the wall gradually disappeared and the hallways became dim, lighted by lanterns placed at every few meters on the walls. Rows of identical wooden doors replaced the windows; Olive assumed them to be the servants' rooms.

"Here's our room," said the woman, stopping at one of the identical doors and opening it.

Olive tilted her head in confusion. She was not sure if she had heard it right.

"Our?"

"Yes. Two servants share a room," explained her, turning to Olive with her too-frequently-used smile.

She had to be joking, right?

Once she got a peek inside, she could feel her eye twitch under her glasses. The woman was not joking. There were two beds, two wardrobe, two small dressers, two of everything placed symmetrically in the room.

Why hadn't whoever built this castle place a wall in the middle of the room? Was it too much to ask for?

She guessed she just had to live with it.

Olive staggered over to the side of the room that was clean and unoccupied. She laid her suitcase on the floor and opened it to unpack her belongings. Taking out her pajamas and toiletries, she turned her head around and asked the woman.

"Where can I have a shower?"

The woman was standing in front of her opened wardrobe with a change of clothes slung over her arm. "Oh, I'll show you the place. I'm heading there too."

"Ah… sure. Thanks."

Somehow, Olive had a bad feeling concerning the shower room.

The woman exited their shared room and led her through the dim hallways, stopping at a door in a far corner. The older woman's long, manicured fingers pushed the door opened. It was a room similar to a locker room for them to put in their clothes. Olive followed the woman and stored her change of clothes in the locker beside hers. With her body clad in a towel and toiletries in hand, she tailed the woman to another separate room. When the door was pushed open, hot steam gushed out making Olive's glasses blurry with water droplets. She reached up to rub the water off to check the shower room. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Her gut feeling was right. There were no shower stalls. It was just shower heads attached to the wall every one meter with no walls separating each shower. Yes, that means she could see every curve of all those naked women showering in front of her despite the thick steam.

Imagine if she was standing among those women. She will stick out like a sore thumb with her flat as an ironing board body.

The taller woman noticed Olive's dumbstruck look. She leaned down to her level and asked worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

Olive blinked and shook her head rapidly. "Nothing, ma'am."

"Okay…" responded the other a bit unsurely. "There are two empty showers there. We'll take that one, okay?" offered her.

Olive could only nod meekly in response.

When she had stripped off her towel, she felt heavy stares on her. Olive instinctively turned her head towards the other women occupying the room with a raised eyebrow, as if asking 'what are you looking at?'

And those women were not even hiding the fact that they were judging her board. Body, she meant.

"Eh, are you new?" asked a random woman. To tell the truth, she could not tell apart everyone. They looked too similar with their uniform hairstyles and breasts.

Oh, so they were not looking at her unappealing body it seems.

"Umm, yes," answered her a bit nervously, while turning on the water tap.

"She's the new cook," explained Olive's roommate.

"I see. No wonder… It's rare for the queen to recruit a new female servant with a B-cup…"

Hot water poured down on Olive's head the moment she said it. She flinched. Double burn.

"Be careful, Olive! You'll burn your face!" cried her roommate, panicked.

"Ah, yes. Sorry," muttered her still not moving, her mind replaying the harsh comment about her chest. Never had anyone told her indirectly that she was flat-chested.

Her roommate reached for her tap water and switched it to cold water. "What are you apologizing for? Turn on the cold water!"

"Ah, yes of course. Thank you."

Olive wondered if she would be able to last in this castle if she will see huge boobs everywhere and be constantly reminded that she was flat-chested. She was used to being better than her peers in her alternate life so being inferior in this aspect made her feel depressed. Since in her alternate life, what matters to her parents was not the size of her boobs, but her grades.

She had never thought that chest could make a different impact on others' impression.

That just showed how naïve she was.

* * *

Olive was not sure if she had to be depressed for her lack of boobs or the opposite.

You see, she did not know much about the queen even though she had stayed in this country for years. It was not because she was ignorant. Olive was very far away from ignorant. She just did not care, so she chose not to know.

So when she saw how the queen flirted with multiple servants at once made her twitch in disgust. Now she knew that those huge breasts were not for eyes only.

Well, she was a little relieved that she will not be joining the harem anytime soon.

And also, she had heard from her roommate that the queen despises the color red. That for sure will bring her trouble.

Olive was sitting in front of her dresser, brushing her unruly long hair. Once she was done, she set the brush down on the dresser and inspected herself on the mirror.

A pair of red eyes stared back.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Putting on her glasses, she marched out of her room to start the day.

It was almost breakfast time for His Majesty.

* * *

**I don't know much about the elaborate layout of the Queen's Castle so I made up some stuff. It had not been shown in the manga, no? I hope you're fine with it :)**

**Thank you very much for reading! :D Aishiteru~ *slapped***


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